UPDATE:

The Santa Rosa Island Authority (SRIA) has updated the flight schedule for Friday and Saturday’s Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show performances. The updated schedule reflects that Airbase Georgia will replace its F4U Corsair with a North American P-51 Mustang, a World War II-era long-range fighter plane, and now includes the addition of a U.S. Navy F-35 Lightning II demonstration to the air show.

The 2021 Homecoming Air Show performances schedule:

  • 11:20 National Anthem / Navy TW-5 and TW-6
  • 11:25-11:35 Coast Guard SAR Demo
  • 11:37-11:47 Veteran’s Flight Team in Stearmans
  • 11:49-12:04 Air Force F-22 Raptor
  • 12:06-12:21 Mustang/Kate with Airbase Georgia
  • 12:23-12:38 Rob Holland
  • 12:40-12:55 Aeroshell Team
  • 12:57-1:12 Navy F-35 Lightning II
  • 1:14-1:29 Red Line
  • 1:31-1:46 Skip Stewart
  • 2:00-2:45 Fat Albert and the Blue Angels

Please note: All times are subject to change due to weather. There will be no Sunday rain date if Saturday’s air show is canceled due to weather. 

Original story below:

Due to COVID-19 restrictions onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola and other naval installations across the Southeast, the 2021 Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show will be moved to Pensacola Beach. The show dates will remain Friday and Saturday, Nov. 5 and 6.

This year’s air show will be the 75th anniversary of the formation of the U.S Navy Flight Demonstration Team, also known as the Blue Angels. The Blue Angels are the oldest continuously operating demonstration flight team in the world.

“Visit Pensacola, with the sponsorship support of Kia, is very proud to bring the Blue Angels home on Pensacola Beach this November,” said Darien Schaefer, President and CEO of Visit Pensacola.

In addition to the Blue Angels, there will be a selection of world-class military, aerobatic performers overhead on Friday, Nov. 5, and Saturday, Nov. 6.

Kicking off the air show week is “Circles and Arrivals” on Wednesday afternoon, Nov. 3, when the Blue Angels arrive and circle overhead to mark the show’s coordinates and center points along Pensacola Beach.

On Thursday, Nov. 4, at approximately 1-2 p.m., the Blue Angels will hold a full practice show over Pensacola Beach.

Friday, Nov. 5, and Saturday, Nov. 6, mark the official Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show with the aerobatic acts beginning at approximately 11 a.m. and the Blue Angels overhead at 2 p.m. Please note: All times are subject to change due to weather.

The 2021 Homecoming Air Show performances include:

11 a.m. – The U.S. Navy Training Air Wing SIX will pass over Pensacola Beach in their T-6A Texan II turboprops and T-45C Goshawk jets to open up the air show. Headquartered in the “Cradle of Naval Aviation” aboard NAS Pensacola, CTW-6 graduates approximately 300 United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Foreign Military Service (FMS) students annually.

11:20 a.m. – A U.S. Coast Guard Air Sea Rescue demonstration will take place over Pensacola Beach from an MH-65D Dolphin medevac helicopter. The SAR aircrew consists of two pilots, one flight mechanic and a rescue swimmer. Depending on the nature of distress, the rescue swimmer deploys via freefall or hoist to provide assistance.

11:40 a.m. – The Veteran’s Flight team, organized by Pensacola attorney and pilot Roy Kinsey, will feature about half a dozen vintage Stearman bi-plane pilots from all over the Southeast flying in the famous World War II-era aircraft.

11:55 a.m. – Airbase Georgia, led by Clint “Richochet” Cottrell, will present a World War II-era American fighter aircraft, the F4U Corsair, as well as a replica Japanese bomber, a Nakajima B5N “Kate,” over the shores of Pensacola Beach. The Corsair and the Kate will recreate, remind and reinforce the lessons learned from the defining moments in American military aviation history.

12:15 p.m. – Solo pilot Rob Holland will push the limits of his single-seat, MXS-RH prop plane to create a visual spectacle like no other over Pensacola Beach.

12:35 p.m. – AeroShell Aerobatic Team – consisting of team leader Mark Henley, right-wing pilot Bryan Regan, Steve Gustafson on the left-wing, and slot pilot Jimmy Fordham – will perform a series of loops, rolls, and bomb bursts in close formation in their T-6 Texan aircraft over Pensacola Beach.

12:55 p.m. – Major Joshua “Cabo” Gunderson, with the U.S. Air Force F-22 Demonstration Team, will take to the Pensacola Beach skies to showcase the amazing capabilities of the F-22 Raptor fighter jet that is leading America into the future of aviation technology.

1:15 p.m. – Pilots Ken Rieder and Adam Baker with Redline Aerobatic Team will take to the skies in their signature red and black planes to perform opposing stunts and inverted maneuvers and formations.

1:35 p.m. – Solo pilot Skip Stewart will wow the crowds with his high-skill passes and jaw-dropping maneuvers in his famous red, white and black-checkered bi-plane, Prometheus.

Finally, starting at 2 p.m., look to the Gulf horizon as a famous C-130J aircraft known as Fat Albert arrives over Pensacola Beach, followed by six famous blue and gold F-18 Super Hornets. For the next 50 minutes, spectators will get a glimpse of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels aeronautic maneuvers like the Diamond Dirty Loop, the Double Farvel, the Vertical Pitch, the Fleur-de-Lis, the Opposing Knife-Edge pass, and the crowd-favorite Sneak Pass. These are just a few of the mind-blowing displays of choreographed precision flying the Navy’s flight demonstration team has perfected over the past 75 years.

PLEASE NOTE: The SRIA is requiring the public to suspend all flights of unmanned aircraft, or drones, during the air show hours of the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show week. In addition, glass is always prohibited on the beach, and leashed dogs are only allowed at the two designated dog beaches on either side of the island.

Following the air show, when it’s time to pack up and leave, the SRIA would like to remind the public: Please Leave Only Your Footprints Behind! For the safety and enjoyment of all Pensacola Beach visitors and the preservation of the island’s flora and fauna, please take all that you came with and help keep our beach clean.

Please note: Showtimes are tentative and subject to change as the details are still being arranged. There will be no Sunday rain date if Saturday’s air show is delayed or canceled due to weather.

For more details, visit www.visitpensacola.com/events/signature-events/blue-angel-air-show.